Dr. Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar (13 December 1955 – 17 March 2019) was an Indian politician and leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party who served as Chief Minister of Goa from 14 March 2017 until his death.[3][4] Previously, he was the Chief Minister of Goa from 2000 to 2005 and from 2012 to 2014 and from 2014 to 2017, he served as the Minister of Defence.

Manohar Parrikar was born to Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) family in Mapusa, Goa.[8] He studied at Loyola High School, Margao.[9] He completed his secondary education in Marathi and went on to graduate in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT Bombay),[8] in 1978. He was the first IIT alumnus to serve as MLA of an Indian state. He was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by IIT Bombay in 2001.[10]

As a member of the BJP, Parrikar was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Goa in 1994. He was leader of the opposition from June to November 1999. He successfully contested the election to become Chief Minister of Goa for the first time on 24 October 2000, but his tenure lasted only until 27 February 2002.[13] In 2001, the Parrikar government had turned over fifty-one government primary schools in rural areas to Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of the Hindu nationalist group Sangh Parivar, inviting criticism from certain educationists.[14][15]

On 5 June 2002, he was re-elected and served another term as Chief Minister.[13] On 29 January 2005, his government was reduced to a minority in the Assembly after four BJP MLAs resigned from the House. Pratapsing Rane of the Indian National Congress would subsequently replace Parrikar as Chief Minister.

In 2007, the Parrikar led BJP was defeated in the Goa state elections by the Congress led by Digambar Kamat. BJP and their party-allies won twenty-four seats against the Congress' nine in the Goa Assembly Elections held in March 2012. In 2014, Parrikar drew criticism for approving a junket costing at least Rs 89 lakhs (Rs 8.9 million) for six MLAs from the ruling party, including three ministers, to attend the FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The Indian National Congress termed the trip "wasteful expenditure" and criticized the lack of other government officials or soccer experts in the delegation.[16][17]

Manohar Parrikar (sitting, left) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Barack Obama at the 2015 Republic Day Parade, New Delhi

In the 2014 general elections, BJP won both the Lok Sabha seats in Goa.[18] eR.Parrikar was reluctant to leave Goa and move to Delhi in November 2014, by his own admission but was persuaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join central government.[18]

On March 14, 2017, Parrikar was sworn in as Chief Minister of Goa. Goa Forward Party led by Vijai Sardesai, one of the parties who allied with BJP in Goa after election results were announced, had said that it would extend support to the BJP only if Parrikar was brought back to the state as Chief Minister.[21][22]

In 2001, the Parrikar government turned over fifty-one government primary schools in rural areas to Vidya Bharati, the educational wing of the Sangh Parivar, inviting criticism from certain educationists.[23][24] He also drew criticism for approving a junket costing at least Rs 89 lakh (Rs 8.9 million) for six government MLAs from the ruling party, including three ministers, to attend the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The Indian National Congress termed the trip "wasteful expenditure" and criticized the lack of other government officials or soccer experts in the delegation.[25][26]

Parrikar has often made remarks of controversial nature.[27] In wake of the debate on religious intolerance in India and actor Aamir Khan stating that his wife Kiran Rao had asked to move out of India, Parrikar made a controversial remark that "if anyone speaks like this, he has to be taught a lesson of his life".[28] He later clarified that he had not targeted any specific individual.[29] In August 2016, Parrikar stated that going to Pakistan is the same thing as "going to hell".[30] In November 2016, Parrikar, while serving as Minister of Defence of India, raised a question about why India should bind itself to the no first use policy.[31]

During March–June 2018, Parrikar was undergoing treatment for what would turn out to be pancreatic cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, USA. He returned to India and in September was admitted in the AIIMS, Delhi for treatment.[38] On 27 October 2018 the Goa government announced that CM Manohar Parrikar had pancreatic cancer.[39]

He died on 17 March 2019 at the age of 63 from pancreatic cancer at his residence in Panaji.[40][41] His death was announced by the president of India, Ram Nath Kovind.[42]

On the evening of 18 March, Parrikar was cremated with full state honours at Miramar in Panaji.[43]